Cleveland Browns start their playoff journey on Saturday
BEREA, Ohio — It’s playoff time for the Cleveland Browns and thirteen other NFL teams, as they will begin this weekend in the Wildcard round with 12 of the 14 teams playing. The Browns will travel to Houston to take on the AFC South champion Texans (10-7).
The Greetham Angle has been charting the path for the Browns to get to the playoffs since they were 4-3. We said that the magic number to make the playoffs has been 10 wins and that held true in the AFC this season as all seven teams that got to 10 wins made the playoffs.
Ironically, the Browns hit the 10-win mark against the Texans, 36-22 on Christmas Eve, less than three weeks ago.
Four of the seven teams in the NFL had 10 or more wins, but three made the playoffs with nine wins.
By getting 11 wins, the Browns earned a chance to rest their front-line players in a meaningless game with the Bengals last Sunday. The Browns 11-6 record earned them the top wild-card spot or No. 5 seed, due to the fact that the division winners automatically receive the top four seeds and first-round home games.
The Ravens, who received the No. 1 seed and bye at 13-4, were the only team in the AFC that had a better record than the Browns did. The Browns have made the playoffs for the first time since 2020 and for only the second time since 2002.
The Browns finished with a dominant 8-1 record at Cleveland Browns Stadium, but will only be able to host a home game if teams that are seeded lower than them end up being in the final two (No. 6 Dolphins and No. 7 Steelers). The top four seeds are the division winners.
To have a chance to play another home game at Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Browns would need to win their wild-card game and then hope that either or both of the lower seeds than the Browns, No. 6 or No. 7 teams, win their games, so the Browns will have a chance to have the higher seed.
The Ravens have the best record in the NFL and have the only bye in the AFC. They will play the lowest seed remaining in the second round after the wild card round.
The seeding in the AFC looks like this: No. 1-Ravens (13-4); No. 2-Bills (11-6); No. 3-Chiefs (11-6); No. 4-Texans (10-7); No. 5-Browns (11-6); No. 6-Dolphins (11-6); No. 7-Steelers (10-7).
The Browns are 3-2 against teams in the AFC playoffs. They split with the Ravens and the Steelers and defeated the Texans. They are 1-1 against teams in the NFL playoffs. They defeated the No. 1 seed 49ers and lost to the No. 6 seed Rams. Overall, the Browns are 4-3 against teams in the 2024 NFL playoffs.
The Browns are the only team that defeated the No. 1 seed in each conference, the Ravens and 49ers.
If the Browns win and the higher seeds win in the other games, the Browns would travel to play the Ravens in the second round. The Browns beat the Ravens on Nov. 12, 33-31 in Baltimore, which was Deshaun Watson’s final game of the season after fracturing his right shoulder.
Unfortunately for the Browns, the division winners get a first-round home game and the top four seeds, even though the Browns had as good of a record or better than all of the other division winners, but one.
In the wild card games, the matchups are the No. 2 Bills hosting the No. 7 Steelers, the No. 3 Chiefs hosting the No. 6 Dolphins, and the No. 4 Texans hosting the No. 5 Browns.
ESPN’s Football Power Index has the Browns with a 2.5 percent chance of making the Super Bowl and a 0.4 percent of winning the Super Bowl. The FPI has the Browns making the division round at 50.5 percent and the conference finals at 10.2 percent.
The Browns have already started no less than five different quarterbacks this season and early in the season, lost Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb, and the team’s top three offensive tackles, not to mention several key defensive players. Despite all of the obstacles, the Browns still made the playoffs.
The Browns had a four-game winning streak with Joe Flacco at quarterback before they rested their starters last week against the Bengals. The Browns hope to pick their momentum back up where they averaged 31.0 points per game in Flacco’s last four games at quarterback.
The playoff journey for the Browns begins on Saturday and although it has been an improbable roller coaster of a season, there is no guarantee the Browns will be in this same position a year from now, so enjoy the ride, wherever it leads.
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